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mey's review
3.25
(On the non-fiction side, I'm always grateful to Arley Sorg for excellent recommendations. I will check out Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa!)
Great
"The Hammer of God" by Jonathan Maberry: A novella with a solid world-building and history that are more hinted at than spelled out. It starts out as a murder investigation with nuns as the detectives, and takes some turns that I didn't expect.
Good
"Nobody Ever Goes Home to Zhenzhu" by Grace Chan: Tightly paced, visually written, impactful.
"The Plastic People" by Tobias S. Buckell: A story about generational responsibility, or the lack thereof, and the other side of the "good Samaritan". It flows really well and is an uncomfortable mirror.
"It Came Gently" by Aigner Loren Wilson: It's a piece of flash fiction, so no plot or character, but that brief image and the sentiment it left are all there.
"The Cheesemaker and the Undying King" by Lina Rather: A novelette about a tyrant, wars, executions, surviving and a cheesemaker. The preparing, making and tasting of cheeses were fascinating.
OK
"Test 4 Echo" by Peter Watts: A lot of it went over my head. If you strip down to the basics, it's about two characters talking about consciousness and personhood.
"Magical Girl Burnout Bingo" by Lauren Ring: What if Magical Girls, after their forced retirement due to life-threatening injuries, didn't die but went on living their post-Magical Girl life?
"If We Do Not Fly at Sunset" by Andi C. Buchanan: It's a short piece about being different in different ways. Not very memorable.
Great
"The Hammer of God" by Jonathan Maberry: A novella with a solid world-building and history that are more hinted at than spelled out. It starts out as a murder investigation with nuns as the detectives, and takes some turns that I didn't expect.
Good
"Nobody Ever Goes Home to Zhenzhu" by Grace Chan: Tightly paced, visually written, impactful.
"The Plastic People" by Tobias S. Buckell: A story about generational responsibility, or the lack thereof, and the other side of the "good Samaritan". It flows really well and is an uncomfortable mirror.
"It Came Gently" by Aigner Loren Wilson: It's a piece of flash fiction, so no plot or character, but that brief image and the sentiment it left are all there.
"The Cheesemaker and the Undying King" by Lina Rather: A novelette about a tyrant, wars, executions, surviving and a cheesemaker. The preparing, making and tasting of cheeses were fascinating.
OK
"Test 4 Echo" by Peter Watts: A lot of it went over my head. If you strip down to the basics, it's about two characters talking about consciousness and personhood.
"Magical Girl Burnout Bingo" by Lauren Ring: What if Magical Girls, after their forced retirement due to life-threatening injuries, didn't die but went on living their post-Magical Girl life?
"If We Do Not Fly at Sunset" by Andi C. Buchanan: It's a short piece about being different in different ways. Not very memorable.
thewildflames's review
4.0
I so wish this was longer. The world building and story telling was phenomenal. To show the future in such a brutal present time, to show that hope is there still… this was amazing
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